Collapsible automobile-rim



L. B. OLNEY.

*CULLAPSIBLE AUTOMO-B-ILE- RIM.

APPLICATION man sEPLlla, |919.

1,350,262, Patented-.m 17,1920.

UNITED STATES f PATENT OFFICE.

LILLIAN BERTI-IA OLNEY, OF SAN FRANCISCO,v CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T0 FOSTER WEEKS AND FRANK BERRY, lEVO'lI-IVOFl SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

coLLAPsIBLE AUTOMOBILE-RIM.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Augi: 17, 1920.

Application filed September 13, 1919. Serial No. 323,562.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known vthat I, LILLIAN BERTHA OLNEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and vState of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Collapsible Automobile-Rimsj ofwhich the following is a speciication.

The invention relates more particularly to detachable rims for pneumatic automobile tires.

The objects of the invention are to reduce to a minimum the labor, and to save undue Wear and tear on the casing, in detaching the rim from the tire; to reduce the number of operations in its manufacture, as compared with vother so-called collapsible rims; and to produce a rim of greater inherent strength, simplicity, and durability.

In this specification and the annexed drawing, the invention is described and illustrated in the form I consider to be the best, but it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to such form, because it may be embodied in other forms, and it is also to be understood that in and by the claims following the description it is desired to protect the invention in whatever form it may be embodied, according to the size and character of, the rim to be manufactured.

Pneumatic tires are constructed to Withstand an internal pressure of 80 pounds or more to the square inch. To prevent circumferential or diametrical enlargement they are provided with clencher beads, reinforcing cables, or other devices oering resistance to such enlargement. It is necessary that these beads or devices fit snugly t Y into the channel of the supporting rim.

is very diflicult and tedious to separate them, except by such means hereinafter described, as are embodied in this invention.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1` yWhich the diameter 0f automobile rim, 2 a collapsible section of the rim', 3 a .segment thereof containing long arms of the clencher channel of the rim, 4 a'tongue-like segment of therim which is left free ai'tei` the segment 3 has been cut, 5

an applied hinge which fastens the segment.

3 to the end of the rim 1, 6 a hinge made from the mortised end 7 of the segment 3 and the mortised end 8 of the segment 4 held together by a pintle pin 9. 1() indicates a hinge made from the mortised end 11 of the segment 4 and the mortised end 12 of the rim segment 1, held in place by a pintle 13, hingmg segments 1 and 4. Hinge 5 is made by bending back upon segment 3 and there riveting or electric welding a piece of metal 14 to the end of segment 3, and also bending back upon the end of the rim 1 at 5 a metal piece 15 which is there riveted or electric welded together and held in place by the pintle pin 16.

The mode of use of my improved rim is as follows: The rim segment 1 is slightly compressed so that, when sufficient pressure is brought to bear at the point 17 ,which is the end of the-arm on segment 3, and the knee of the hinged portion is slightly bent at 6, the compression will then cause a complete and easy collapse of the entire segment 2. This collapse decreases the size of the rim according to the lengths of the collapsible segments 3 land 4, so that the tire may be removed and replaced with the greatest ease and rapldity, and with a minimum of wear and tear on the tire. rimfthe collapsiblesection may then be forced When the tire has been retted'to the into Aposition by exerting pressure at 6, y

which will expand the gap between 5 and 10, and finally allow the collapsible section 2 to slip into its normal position solid lines in Fig. 1. v

While collapsing the air musthave been re leased from the tire, so that all the force'exerted tends to colla se the' segments 3 and 4A as shown in because both segments 3 and 4 may be coll lapsed this reduces the length of bothv of the arms to the shortest ossible length, by e run may be mede small enough to allow the tire to be taken off with ease, thereby maintaining the greatest possible inherent strength of the rim. The shortness of these segments also reduces the leverage wear on the hinges at 5, 6, and 10, thereby lengthening the lifeof the rim. The fact that there are also few applied vparts enables the manufacturer to produce the rim by stamping and press vprocesses vfor the most part, there being only two parts at 5 which must be welded to the rim.

As a means of locking section 2 against collapse, which might result from the pressure of the inflated tire, I employ a button 18 which is pivoted to the segment 4 by rivet 19, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. When this is swung to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and in full lines in Fig. 4, the seg-v ments are locked; and when it 1s. desired to /break the' lock, the'- button 18 is turned a quarter of a circle or at right-angles to the position shown in Figs. 2and 4, so that its ends/aliey out of the way and do not overlap the inner edges of .the segments 3.

I claim i 1. A collapsible automobile rim including a flanged major section and a flanged minor ythe end of the minor section to abut the flanges at the end of the major section when the rim is expanded.

2. A collapsible rim comprising a section of radius less than the radius of the complete rim and having non-continuous ends, and two segments of substantially equal lever lengthsbetween said ends, hinged at one end respectively to said ends. and at the other end to one another, the point where said segments are hinged together being substantially midway the length of one of the segments, whereby projecting lever ends are formed for manipulation in expanding and locking the rim, and a button pivoted to, one segment in position for its ends` to take under the inner edges of the lever ends of the other segment when the rim is expanded in order to hold it in locked position.

LILLIAN BERTI-IA OLNEY. 

